Confession
by eprime
Summary: Max and Iago remember their rocky start and first kiss.


Author's Note: I recently stumbled across the story of Max and Iago from El Cor de la Ciutat, which is set in Barcelona, Spain. (Evama1977 on YouTube put up the episodes and a few lovely volunteers added English subtitles, for which I am eternally grateful as I do not speak Catalan.) Their story spans 134 episodes, each are about ten minutes in length. I will warn you now that there is a long dry spell when Max is away and poor Iago misses him dreadfully (the actor who plays Max took a sabbatical), but he does come back and they do have a happy ending, I promise. These guys have amazing chemistry, really. I also ran across some vids by Doppelganger44 that are put together very well and have some great footage from the show.

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"Tell me the truth, Max. You didn't hate me _so_ much in the beginning, did you?"

Max laughed. "Yes. I thought you were a selfish, arrogant bastard."

"That didn't seem to matter much when I kissed you outside La Fusteria." Iago's teasing smile was hidden against the column of Max's throat as he nuzzled the warm skin. "Be honest now, that kiss was what made you think about me."

"Of course, I didn't even know you were gay before that."

"Just admit you liked it, Max. It knocked your socks off, I could tell, even if you said you didn't want it later." Iago rolled on top of Max and raised up on his arms to grin down at him.

"If I admit this, your head will not fit through the door." With a stubborn tilt of his chin, Max shook his head. "I deny it."

"Bad move, Max." Iago sighed sadly. "Bad, bad move."

"Iago..."

Raising up to his knees, Iago swiftly straddled Max, pinning his wrists to the bed with one hand and letting his fingers just skim across Max's ribcage. Max squirmed wildly, huffing out breathless laughter as he tried to evade the wandering fingers.

"Iago, no! Ahhhh, not there!"

"Are you ready to admit it?" Wiggling the fingers of his hovering hand in threat, Iago smiled devilishly. Max's hesitation cost him another round of ruthless tickling and then he was gasping for mercy.

"All right! Yes! I liked it. It was fucking amazing, okay?"

"I knew it!" Iago crowed. "You were captivated by my spectacular kissing skills."

"And your modesty, no?"

They laughed together, then Max freed his hands and tugged Iago down, pushing him over so they were both tangled together facing each other. "You had a nerve that night. I half wanted to kill you. I hated how you charmed everyone. And then you were so ridiculously good looking. I could never get you out of my mind."

"Yes, tell me about it." Iago rolled back and flung one arm over his head as he stared up at the ceiling, a small smile of remembrance lifting the corners of his mouth. "At first, I thought you were such a child, a whiny little brat, but then you..."

"I what?"

"Nothing, I just changed my opinion." Abruptly, Iago turned on his side again and cupped Max's face, leaning in for a kiss.

"Iago," Max shifted back and fixed him with a narrow-eyed look. "What are you hiding now?"

He swore lightly under his breath and offered Max a sheepish grin. "It's not that bad, really! Promise not to get mad?"

"Explain." Max still looked more playful than wary, but his warning tone made Iago rush to offer his explanation.

"Well, you know how we weren't getting along, and it was causing troubles between Berta and Clara?"

"Yes." Max was frowning now.

"Well, you see, you weren't interested in working things out between us, so I needed to find some way to convince you." Iago hesitated, looking at a point on the wall rather than meeting Max's eyes

"Yes, and?"

"Well, I didn't want to keep causing trouble for Berta, so I...so I..." He risked a quick glance at Max, who was regarding him with a definitely wary expression now.

"Iago, if you don't tell me right now..."

"Okay, okay. Well, you remember when someone tried to mug you that day in the square?"

"Yes, why-no, tell me you didn't." Max's eyes went wide, his mouth falling open in disbelief.

Hastily, Iago continued in a rush of words. "I needed to gain your trust so that you wouldn't think I was a jerk anymore, Max. I asked a friend of mine to pretend to attack you so I could come in and rescue you, and you would be grateful. I was just going to step in when you kicked his ass and took off. I was so shocked. I never thought you'd react that way, though I should've what with the way you always told me off whenever we met. I think that's when I started falling for you, actually. Anyway, that's all."

Iago was hiding his face underneath his arm now, waiting for the explosion, for Max to tell him to go to hell or to give him the disappointed face-the one that always made Iago feel two inches tall. The long moment of silence that followed made him squirm. He never expected the silence to be broken by the sound of Max laughing.

He lowered his arm to watch in wonder as Max threw himself back on the bed and howled with laughter. "Fuck, Iago. I need to keep you on a leash, don't I?"

"Mm. That could be fun." Iago was all smiles again, his cheeks dimpling as he threw himself on top of Max. "You're not mad?"

"I _should_ be," Max said with another narrow-eyed look at him. "But I'm not. It's just the kind of thing you _would_ come up with back then. Idiot," he added fondly, giving Iago a good-natured shove. "You're just lucky I didn't find out about it then."

"Yeah, I know." Iago laughed. "But I can't regret it because after that I couldn't resist kissing you when I got the chance."

"Pushy bastard," Max muttered with false grumpiness.

"You loved it," Iago teased, bending his head to kiss and lick the skin of Max's throat. "I didn't want to stop. Didn't want to walk away. The way you looked after...fuck, Max." He bit down gently and Max arched up into it. "Your face was flushed and you looked so shocked, but you were...you looked so fucking good. Well-kissed. I wanted you so badly."

"Iago." Max threaded his fingers through Iago's hair and tugged his face up, moaning as their mouths met.

"And then," Iago murmured between hot, wet kisses, "you sent me to hell, and I thought that one kiss was all I'd ever have."

"You were under my skin all the time." Pupils blown wide, making his eyes look even darker, Max stared up at him. "I couldn't stop thinking about you."

"And then you came to me. In the kiosk." Iago captured Max's bottom lip, scraping it between his teeth then sliding his tongue soothingly over the abused flesh. "You kissed me. And then..."

"And then..."

"You were amazing. I fell for you completely. Hopeless case. Lifetime addict."

"No, Iago. You were the addiction, remember? The chocolate croissant."

Iago laughed. "Yes. Yes, I remember. But you said I was sweeter than that, Max."

"You are. A thousand times sweeter. Irresistible."

"Flatterer."

"I love you, Iago."

"Max."


End file.
